Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus and, more particularly, to such a method and apparatus which are operable to produce a work product useable for a wide variety of applications in a wide variety of operative environments and having particular utility in processing fluids, which would otherwise be waste materials subject to disposal, for use devoted to a wide variety of useful purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known in industry and a variety of environments to attempt to use materials, which would otherwise be waste materials, for useful and otherwise valuable purposes. Where successful, such prior art processes provide both a means for disposing of, what would otherwise be, a waste material, as well as providing a useful product.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,830,603 to Vagim relates to a machine which employs water for the washing of raisins, recovers the washed raisins, but otherwise teaches only discharge of the water so used. In accordance with the disclosure of the patent, foreign matter is effectively separated from the raisins and retained in the tank of the machine for subsequent removal. The patent does not teach processing, or reuse, of the wash water.
The McGinness et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,598 is directed to a xe2x80x9cMethod And Apparatus For Closed Loop Recycling Of Contaminated Cleaning Solution.xe2x80x9d In the practice of the invention, as disclosed in the subject patent, the treated cleaning solution is reused as the cleaning solution in the original cleaning process from which the contaminated cleaner was obtained. More specifically, the rinse water in the cleaning process becomes contaminated with dilute reused cleaning solution and is recycled by reverse osmosis to separate the rinse water and to reconcentrate the cleaning solution. The reconcentrated cleaning solution is returned to the original cleaning process for reuse and the reverse osmosis product water is returned to the original rinse station for reuse.
The foregoing McGinness et al. patent merely serves herein as an example of attempts in the prior art to employ an otherwise waste material for subsequent use. To the applicant""s knowledge, however, there have heretofore been no successful prior art attempts to achieve the invention and the results thereof disclosed and claimed in the instant patent application in which a waste material is processed in such a manner as to produce, in effect, a new product useful for a variety of specific purposes with little, or no, substantial waste material of its own. The resulting savings in the cost of disposal of the otherwise waste material, the value in the marketplace of the new product and a host of other benefits would be of substantial value and significance where successfully achieved.
Therefore, it has long been recognized that it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus for producing a work product which permit an otherwise waste material to be converted for reuse; which produce a resultant product having a useful purpose in its own right; which produce a resultant product of independent commercial use and value; which produce a resultant product useful for a wide variety of purposes and a wide variety of different applications; and which are otherwise entirely successful in achieving their operational objectives.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for producing a work product.
Another object is to provide such a method and apparatus which are operable to receive an otherwise waste material and convert such waste material for reuse.
Another object is to provide such a method and apparatus which are operable to produce a resultant product which is useful in its own right having a commercial value separate and apart from the original source and environment of use thereof.
Another object is to provide such a method and apparatus which are operable to produce a resultant product useful for a variety of specific purposes in a variety of operative environments.
Another object is to provide such a method and apparatus which have particular utility in processing fluids, such as water, used in rinsing, or washing, a work material, for the beneficial recovery and use of constituent substances therefrom.
Another object is to provide such a method and apparatus which are unusually well suited to the recovery of sugar substances and the like from waste fluids.
Another object is to provide such a method and apparatus which result in the production of a concentrate from waste materials which is readily adapted for use in the production of other commercial products.
Another object is to provide such a method and apparatus which are well suited to usage in conjunction with otherwise conventional methods and apparatuses without detracting from the conventional use thereof.
Another object is to provide such a method and apparatus which are unusually well adapted for use in converting raisin and other produce waste fluids to products which are independently useful.
Further objects and advantages are to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in a method and apparatus for the purposes described which are dependable, economical, durable and fully effective in accomplishing their intended purposes.
These and other objects and advantages are achieved, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, in a method and apparatus for producing a work product having the steps of receiving a first fluid composed of a liquid, a target substance and at least one residual substance; passing the first liquid through means for separating the residual substance from the first fluid to produce a secondary fluid substantially composed of the liquid and the target substance; and treating the secondary fluid to reduce the proportion of the liquid relative to the target substance in the secondary fluid to form the work product.